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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Late Registration
Universal acclaim
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 276 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Roc-A-Fella
Release Date: 30 August 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rap
Summary
The Grammy-winner returns with a highly-anticpated follow-up to 'The College Dropout,' marking the second installment in a planned four-part series of albums. Jon Brion co-produced, and Brandy, Common, Nas, The Game, Jamie Foxx and Maroon 5's Adam Levine guest.
Also By This Artist: 808s & Heartbreak College Dropout Graduation
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Rolling Stone
Late Registration is an undeniable triumph, packed front to back, so expansive it makes the debut sound like a rough draft.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The music offers further evidence of how far outside rap's usual strictures West operates. OutKast aside, mainstream hip-hop doesn't really do ambiguity or irony, but just as West's arrogance occasionally appears to be a protracted joke, Late Registration finds him in thrillingly subversive form, working in the production booth to undercut tracks' messages and shifting their meanings.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
[An] even more ambitious, superbly crafted follow-up. [28 Aug 2005]
Paste Magazine
A masterful sophomore disc on which every weak rhyme, guest and beat has been ironed out through months of hard work and several blown deadlines. [Oct/Nov 2005, p.120]
Pitchfork
The sprawling Late Registration is the year's most accomplished rap album, and in turn, he's done something that his heroes-- the Pharcyde and Nas, and father figure Jay-Z-- couldn't do: deliver on a promise the second time around.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Mostly brilliant. [Aug 2005, p.88]
Amazon.com
Late Registration can't replicate the novelty of last year's College Dropout, but otherwise, this is an impressively more mature and labored-over album.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
It's a cleverly and thoughtfully composed album, bereft of filler and loaded with style and substance.
Read Full Review >Spin
As ornate and bloated as West's ego. [Sep 2005, p.99]
Entertainment Weekly
Late Registration is more cumbersome and burdened than its predecessor--a little less cohesive, a lot less fun--but it rarely fails to engross at nearly every step. [2 Sep 2005, p.77]
Q Magazine
Practically every track on Late Registration is a glorious pop song. [Aug 2005, p.120]
Billboard
By the end of this 21-track opus, you still might not like West's self-assured declarations, but you will not be able to deny his talent.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
"Late Registration" feels more comfortable in its own skin than its predecessor.
Read Full Review >Blender
Is it uneven? Yes. Self-indulgent? Unbearably, at times. But that's what makes West one of hip-hop's most exciting, funny, and human stars. He's unafraid to make a big, fat mess. [Sep 2005, p.130]
Vibe
There are still too many touchy-feely songs. [Oct 2005, p.161]
New Musical Express
By freshening up his style without entirely abandoning it, West still has the rest of the rap world playing catch-up.
Read Full Review >Drawer B
Late Registration... definitely mines familiar terrain, but West’s zeal for clever wordplay juxtaposed with his unflinching confidence makes for a charismatic and often electrifying punch.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Late Registration really wants to be an album album, which makes all the more frustrating and undermining the fact that it mirrors the flaws of its predecessor: the glut and the stilted sequencing.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
The biggest problem with Late Registration though is Kanye's verses; he's not a great MC, but he doesn't know it.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Review #1: The individual tracks vary too much in quality, but West has once again assembled an album that works from start to finish. [score=70]; Review #2: Lyrically, Kanye is still a few credits short of graduating to the next level. [score=70]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Late Registration, is every bit as ambitious as its predecessor, but without Dropout's strong narrative, it's less successful in realizing that ambition.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
KW's album can only be thought of as even remotely good while we don't have a young, hungry KRS One, RZA, Rakim Allah, Gift of Gab or Ol Dirty Bastard to challenge him.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
For much of "Late Registration," the striver has turned into a hip-hop V.I.P., and a cool arrogance has crept into the songs. [29 Aug 2005]
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Not a dud, certainly not a work of cosmic art. It’s meekly above-average.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 276 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
A classic.
hip hop lover gave it a9:
Until i heard "stronger", i never really liked Kanye West's music,but i herd stronger and i loved it. Plus my mate recommended Late Registration to me so i asked for it for my birthday. i got it and listened to it, and i thought it was brilliant! Not exactly what id call proper Hip-Hop, but still a pretty good album! I can listen to every track all the way through without getting bored of it (except for "late," which is why the album gets a 9) and every track is on my ipod! (which is rare coz normally no more than 5 songs on average from an album make it onto your ipod, and most of the time its the albums singles...) Definitely fits into the top 10 albums i own. Shame some people still don't like it, but i suppose everyone has a different taste in music. anyways still a decent album in my opinion which i recommend to anyone...
Jimbrowski I. gave it a9:
What is the purpose of skits on rap albums again? Illmatic doesn't have single skit, which is probably why it's so short, but it's also why I love it so much (I've noticed that also with many rap artists in the Eighties, I like them to). Anyways, minus the skits, fantastic rap album. I was glad Graduation didn't have any skits.
irvin c gave it a10:
late registration is brilliant, a superb triumph of hard labor of 'Ye and Jon Brion's behalf
Greg B gave it a10:
The production alone makes this the best album of 2005. Definitely better than College Dropout, and a lot more fun. Can't wait for Graduation!
Hey ManManManMan gave it a9:
I do agree this album is musically superior to The College Dropout. But there are still too many filler skits taking up time, and some lyrics (like on Roses) are lacking. Still top notch though. Such a creative force.
pepe f gave it a10:
a classic!
